Councilor Troi: Perpetually Possessed?

I watched a few episodes of TNG that I hadn't seen in a long time recently, and it occurred to me that Councilor Troi is often compromised, or literally possessed, by alien beings. You can even make the argument that this extends to her being flooded with negative emotions in "Man of the People."

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? Was this ever explained in the series as "because she is part-Betazoid," or were we left to make that educated guess?

And, more importantly, in TNG did the crew generally fall under the influence of these kinds of alien phenomena too often?--there are obviously several episodes where SOMEONE ends up compromised like that.

I watched a few episodes of TNG that I hadn't seen in a long time recently, and it occurred to me that Councilor Troi is often compromised, or literally possessed, by alien beings. You can even make the argument that this extends to her being flooded with negative emotions in "Man of the People."

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon?

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You're not the only one to notice that. A few years back I had Picard make a joke in one of my fanfic stories about Deanna and Data both having a particular proclivity toward possession (for lack of a better term).

I watched a few episodes of TNG that I hadn't seen in a long time recently, and it occurred to me that Councilor Troi is often compromised, or literally possessed, by alien beings. You can even make the argument that this extends to her being flooded with negative emotions in "Man of the People."

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon?

Click to expand...

You're not the only one to notice that. A few years back I had Picard make a joke in one of my fanfic stories about Deanna and Data both having a particular proclivity toward possession (for lack of a better term).

I watched a few episodes of TNG that I hadn't seen in a long time recently, and it occurred to me that Councilor Troi is often compromised, or literally possessed, by alien beings. You can even make the argument that this extends to her being flooded with negative emotions in "Man of the People."

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon?

Click to expand...

You're not the only one to notice that. A few years back I had Picard make a joke in one of my fanfic stories about Deanna and Data both having a particular proclivity toward possession (for lack of a better term).

Yeah, I was thinking that this actually applies more to Data than Troi. Often, Data was arguably a menace to the crew and a risk to keep on the ship, because he was prone to possession AND manipulation through programming("brothers," "descent")

But it makes sense for Troi as an empath. She does better possessed in "power play" than as the scary-voiced Paxan in "clues."

I think there was more to it when it was Geordi. For example, it was much more interesting for him to be brainwashed by the Romulans. Or implanted with weird alien DNA. It is arguably less interesting when an odd, energy-based life form takes over the same character over and over.

On a separate note, Does Troi even like being on the Enterprise or even exploring space? I always got the feeling that she never really appreciated anything out there. remember her reaction to seeing a wormhole in 'The Price.'

On a separate note, Does Troi even like being on the Enterprise or even exploring space? I always got the feeling that she never really appreciated anything out there. remember her reaction to seeing a wormhole in 'The Price.'

On a separate note, Does Troi even like being on the Enterprise or even exploring space? I always got the feeling that she never really appreciated anything out there. remember her reaction to seeing a wormhole in 'The Price.'

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Maybe Troi's more interested in the people she meets and works with than science and phenomena.